Carton and means for cushioning and packaging heavy, fragile articles



Feb. 21, 1967 H BROECKER 3,305,081

CARTON AND MEAN FOR CUSHIONING AND PACKAGING Filed Oct. 15, 1965 HEAVY, FRAGILE ARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HERBERT A. BROECKER Feb. 21, 1967 H. A. BROECKER CARTON AND MEANS FOR CUSHIONING AND PACKAGIN HEAVY, FRAGILE ARTICLES 3 Sheetssheet 2 Filed Oct. l5 1965 INVE NTOR HERBERT A. BROECKER Feb. 21, 1967 H A. BROECKER 3,305,081

CARTON AND MEANS FOR CUSHIONING AND PACKAGING HEAVY, FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed Oct. 15, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR HERBERT ABROECKER United States Patent 3,305,081 CARTON AND MEANS FOR CUSHIQNING AND PACKAGING HEAVY, FRAGILE ARTICLES Herbert A. Broecker, Miiwaukee, Wis., assignor to Variant Company, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation Filed Oct. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 496,571 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) This invention appertains to packaging and more particularly to a new and novel carton and means for packaging and cushioning heavy, fragile articles.

It is, therefore, a primary object to provide a carton and novel cushioning and retaining means for heavy objects to prevent the same from damage.

Another important object of my present invention is to provide a novel means for packaging and retaining a pair of gear members in such a manner that during shipment they will not shift in the carton and will be effectively protected against damage from blows to the Outside of the carton.

A further object is to provide a packaging means for a bevel and ring gear arrangement whereby each member is effectively held in spaced relationship to one another and from the walls of the carton per se.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a carton for a ring and bevel gear arrangement wherein the ring gear is held in one compartment of the carton and wherein a novel retaining means is provided for the bevel gear and shaft to retain and hold that member above the ring gear and in spaced relation with all of the walls of the carton.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a sturdy packaging means whereby the heavy articles are retained within the carton and wherein the retaining means in effect provides and adds strength to the carton 1 per se, and effectively cushions the articles held therein.

A further important object of my invention relies in providing a novel upper retaining means for the bevel gear and shaft, which is formed from a single blank of sheet material folded to support the bevel gear above the ring gear and to space the same effectively from all of the walls of the carton.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically 'described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view in perspective of the completed package with the cover flaps of the carton open to illustrate the positioning of the retaining member and bevel gear;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the package and illustrating details in the retaining means and supprting means for both gear members, the section being taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2 of the drawings, looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrating the cushioning means for the ring gear;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2 and illustrating the retaining means for the bevel gear and its shaft;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view in perspective showing the novel retaining means for the bevel gear in an intermediate folded position prior to the operative position;

FIGURE 6 illustrates the blank from which the retaining member for the bevel gear and shaft is formed;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view in perspective similar to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, but illustrating a modified form of the retaining means for the bevel gear and its shaft;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the blank in its intermediate folded position, the view being similar to FIGURE 5 of the drawings but relating to that form of.

the invention shown in FIGURE 7, and

FIGURE 9 is a view of the modified blank from which the retaining means for the bevel gear and its shaft is formed.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter P generally indicates my improved package for a bevel gear and its shaft 20 and ring gear 21. The package P includes broadly an outer carton 22 of a general standard construction, a retaining means 23 for the ring gear 21 and a folded retaining and supporting means 24 for the bevel gear and its shaft.

The carton 22 therefore is of a generally square shape and folded to provide the vertical -side walls 25, a bottom wall 26 and top closure members 27. This carton can of course be made from any desired material and in any size, but preferebaly is of corrugated board and of a size and configuration to receive the particular size ring gear 21 so that the same can be spaced from the side walls 25. In order to properly hold and position the ring gear 21 I provide a strip of cushioning material known in the trade as Sits-Rap and this is of general standard construction. This cushioning material 28 is clearly shown and described in the Cortright Patent No. 2,741,362 issued April 10, 1956, and particularly in FIGURES 1 to 4 thereof. It is also illustrated in the Van Antwerpen Patent 2,504,473 issued April 18, 1950, particularly in FIG- URES 28 to 31 thereof. A clear illustration of the same is also set forth in the Van Antwerpen Patent 3,120,383 of February 4, 1964, and more particularly in FIGURE 6 of the patent.

Therefore, this packaging and cushioning material 28 is formed in strips and includes a substantially straight base ply 29, an intermediate ply 30 and an outer ply 31 (noteFIGURES 2 and 3). These plies are secured together in any preferred manner, such as my metal stitches or by glue and the intermediate ply 30 and outer ply 31 are provided with outwardly extending cushioning and protecting peaks 32 and 33 respectively. Theoutermost peaks 33 are slitted to receive the edge of a fragile article to be protected. Thus, a sheet of this cushioning material is selected and cut to a size so that it will fit about the inner dimensions of the carton and positioned adjacent the bottom 26 thereof, as shown particularly in FIGURE 3 of the drawings, and the strip is of a sufficient thickness to terminate at the approximate longitudinal center of the carton. The ring gear 21 is then placed within the slits and is effectively supported above the bottom wall 26 of the carton between outer peaks 33 and is cushioned against blows to the side walls 25 of the carton by the intermediate peaks 32 and the general thickness of the material. Actually, in packaging the ring gear 21 the strip 28 is first positioned around the gear and the entire unit is then dropped into the carton adjacent the bottom wall thereof.

To properly retain the bevel gear and its shaft 20 within the carton and to effectively cushion the same and space the gear from its ring gear, I provide the novel retaining and holding means 24 and the same is for-med from a single sheet of blank material die cut so as to provide a substantially trapezoidal shape, as shown in FIGURE 6 of the drawings. In FIGURE 6 the dotted lines may be score lines for folding and the full lines will be lines that are cut entirely through the material. Pref erably, the retaining means 24 is made from a corrugated media and as shown is provided with a pair of spaced score lines 34 and the distance between these lines conforms substantially to the distance between two parallel spaced side walls of the carton and the side edges 35 of the blank are spaced apart the same distance. Thus, when the blank is folded along score lines 34 a bottom panel 36 is provided which will snugly fit within the side walls of the carton and will rest on the adjacent edges of the packaging and cushioning strip 28 to provide in effect, a supporting surface for the bevel gear and its shaft 24). Preferably the bevel gear 20 is positioned in the carton diagonally and in order to retain particularly the bevel gear portion in place, I die cut in the substantial dimen- 'sions of the bevel portion of the gear, the two flaps 37 and this when the bevel gear is placed in a position shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, flaps 37 will be bent downwardly on the score lines 38 and provide a pocket to receive the respective portion of the bevel gear and keep the same from rolling or moving within the carton. To further grip and retain the bevel gear and its shaft, 1 provide compartments 39 and 40 formed by folding along the some lines 41, 42, 43 and 44 respectively. To provide the diagonally extending vertical wall 45 I die cut end 4 6 of the blank and intermediate the edge thereof, I provide a U-shaped cut out portion 47 of a size and con-figuration to receive the shaft 48 at a point immediately adjacent the bevel gear. Thus, when retaining means 24 is placed within the carton and ring gear 21 positioned above flaps 37, the blank is folded on score lines 35 and 41 to provide a vertically extending wall parallel to and adjacent its respective side wall 25 and folded to provide a top wall 49 for compartment 40 and the aforementioned diagonally extending vertical wall 45. As previously brought out the blank is also cut entirely through along the lines 59 to provide a locking tab 51 and this tab is folded so that it extends parallel with bottom panel 36 and the edge 52 thereof bears against the vertically and diagonally extending wall 45 and aids in retaining the same in a vertical position.

I also provide a bendable locking tab 53 the purpose of which wil become apparent as the description procoeds, Com artment 39 is formed by folding along the straight parallel score lines 34, 43 and 44, and it should be noted that the edge 35 adjacent the score line 34 is cut out slightly to form an inner edge 55 and between the score lines 43 and 44 I prefer cut the edge at an angle 56 to provide the parallel inner edge 57. Thus, when folded along the aforementioned straight score lines, a vertical Wall 58, a top substantially rectangular shaped wall 59 and an inner vertical wall 60 are provided to complete the compartment 39. The inner or end edge 61 is also provided with a U-shaped cut out portion 62 intermediate its ends and in position to receive the end 63 of the shaft of the bevel gear, and thus the bevel gear is effectively held and retained in place. Locking tab 53 is then folded in a parallel position to its respective side wall 25 and is retained within the space provided by the cut out and edges 55 and 56. Thus, it can be seen that the bevel gear and its shaft are held effectively in spaced relation to the ring gear, the large portion of the bevel being positioned within the ring gear opening and effectively cushioned by the flaps 37 and held from shifting by the cut outs 47 and 62 within the respective compartments 39 and 40.

Attention is now directed to that form of the invention illustrated primarily by FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings. This particular form pertains to a modification in the upper retaining means 65 and the blank while quite similar to that form of the invention shown in FIGURES S and 6 of the drawings, provides a larger compartment 40 and is designed to accommodate in particular a bevel gear wherein the length of the gear is greater than that shown in FIGURES 1 to 6, inclusive. Blank 65 also eliminates the necessity of utilizing the locking tabs 51 and 53. Therefore the retainer 65 is 7 die cut from a single length of material and is trapezoidal in shape to provide substantially parallel edges 66 and 67 and the end edges 68 and 69 respectively. The bottom supporting panel 76 of blank 65 is formed by portions of the edges 66 and 67 and by the weakened score lines 71, and again, is of a dimension to fit snugly within the inner dimensions of the carton P. It should be here noted that carton P is identical to that shown in FIG- URE l of the drawings, and thus is provided with the vertical side walls 25, bottom wall 26 and closures 27, and the ring gear portion to be packaged is packaged identically to the ring gear shown in the previous figures and cushioning and packaging strip 28 is also utilized in the same manner and occupies the lower compartment 72 of the carton P below the dotted line indicated by the reference numeral 73. Of course, the bottom panel 70 then sits on the peripheral edges of the strip 28 in the same manner as the panel 36 of that form of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 6. Also provided in blank 65 are the score lines 74, 75, 76 and 77 and it should be noted that score line 77 is formed at an angle and terminates in spaced relation to score line 76 along the edge 66. The edges 68 and 69 intermediate their ends are provided with the cut out portions 78 and 79 respectively, properly positioned to fit around the respective portions of the shaft 36 of the bevel gear member 81 when the bevel gear is put diagonally in the carton, as shown. Thus, the score lines divide the blank into the panel sections 82, 83, 84, 7t), 85, 86 and 87. Bottom panel 7% is further die cut and scored to provide bendable flaps 83 and 89 which may be bent inwardly along score lines 90. Also provided are a pair of flaps 91 which may be bent inwardly from the score line 92, and thus, when the bevel portion of the gear is placed in position over the flaps, they will as previously mentioned bend inwardly and form a pocket to receive the bevel gear and position the same in spaced relation to the ring gear and sides of the carton. it should also be noted that longitudinally extending edge 67 of the blank 65 adjacent the panel sections 82, 83 and 84 is cut out between the score lines 71 and 75 as shown and indicated by the reference numeral 93 and further between the score lines 74- and 75, I provide an angularly extending edge 94 which when in its folded position forms a 45 degree angle in providing the top panel 33 and snugly fits within the corner 95 of the carton. Edge 96 of panel 82 extends parallel to its respective portion of edge 66 to form a vertically extending wall of the retaining means. Panels 34 and respectively, again lie parallel to and adjacent their respective inner portions of the side walls 25 of the carton P and panel 86 forms a to pcovering for the compartment 40 and the space between score lines 76 and 77 along edge 66 provides a means for spacing vertical panel 87 from corner 97 of the carton. It should be noted that panel 82 cooperates with panel 87 so that both are firmly locked in place and against and movement and thus the bevel gear and its respective ring gear section are again elfectively held and cushioned within the carton.

Obviously, closures 27 are then united either by stapling or glue and the entire package effectively carries and cushions the respective gear sections against damage and movement.

While I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that these are merely for the purpose of illustrating and description, that various other forms may be devised and changes may be made in the proportion and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims, in which I claim:

1. In combination, a carton and cushioning and retaining means for a ring gear and its corresponding bevel gear and its shaft, said carton being of a generally square shape to provide equally dimensioned side walls, bottom wall and top folding closure, a first cushioning and retaining means holding said ring gear in spaced relation to said carton walls in a position adjacent said bottom wall, a second cushioning and retaining means for said bevel gear and its shaft, said second cushioning and retaining means being formed from a die cut blank, having a bottom panel generally conforming to the inside dimensions of said carton, said bottom panel lying adjacent and above said first cushioning means, said folded die cut blank of said second cushioning and retaining means having two adjacent vertically spaced wall panels providing two adjacent separate compartments, a first compartment completely enclosing the bevel gear and a said second compartment receiving the opposite end termination of its shaft, hinged flaps in said bottom panel adjacent said first compartment formed to the general configuration of the bevel gear and receiving a respective portion of said gear, said adjacent vertically extending wall panels having cut out portions to receive the respective sections of said bevel gear shaft, whereby said ring gear and said bevel gear are held in cushioned spaced relation to one another and to the walls of said carton.

2. A carton and cushioning retaining means for a ring gear and its corresponding bevel gear and shaft as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first cushioning and retaining means includes a laminated cushioning strip positioned circumferentially adjacent the side and bottom walls of said carton and placed about the outer periphery of the ring gear, said laminated strip including at least a base strip and a slotted peaked strip, said strip being placed in said carton with one edge resting on the bottom wall thereof and the opposite edge terminating well below the upper closure end of said carton.

3. A carton and cushioning and retaining means for ring gears and corresponding bevel gears and shafts as set forth in claim 1, wherein said second cushioning and retaining means formed by said folded blank includes a general trapezoidal shape having parallel extending spaced score lines to define when folded a bottom panel and spaced compartments, each compartment including a vertical side wall lying adjacent a respective carton side wall, a top panel and spaced adjacent vertical walls, one of said vertical walls being at an angle and each adjacent vertical wall being provided with a cut out portion to receive a respective section of the shaft of the bevel gear and means provided in said blank to lock the adjacent vertical panels in position.

4. A cushioning and retaining means for a bevel gear and its shaft of the type adapted to be placed within a carton, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sec-0nd cushioning and retaining means being formed from a foldable die cut blank scored to provide fold lines includes a blank when folded having a bottom panel of the general inside dimensions of said carton, spaced vertically extending walls, top horizontally extending panels and a pair of spaced vertical walls so positioned and arranged that one wall extends diagonally of the carton from a point adjacent the end termination of said other wall, each of said last mentioned vertical walls being provided, with a cut out portion to receive a respective section of the shaft of said bevel gear.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,684,758 7/ 1954 Aquino 206-46 2,843,257 7/ 1958 Collins 206-46 2,979,192 4/ 1961 Blonder. 3,116,866 l/l964 Boran 20646 X LOUIS G. MANOENE, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A CARTON AND CUSHIONING AND RETAINING MEANS FOR A RING GEAR AND ITS CORRESPONDING BEVEL GEAR AND ITS SHAFT, SAID CARTON BEING OF A GENERALLY SQUARE SHAPE TO PROVIDE EQUALLY DIMENSIONED SIDE WALLS, BOTTOM WALL AND TOP FOLDING CLOSURE, A FIRST CUSHIONING AND RETAINING MEANS HOLDING SAID RING GEAR IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID CARTON WALLS IN A POSITION ADJACENT SAID BOTTOM WALL, A SECOND CUSHIONING AND RETAINING MEANS FOR SAID BEVEL GEAR AND ITS SHAFT, SAID SECOND CUSHIONING AND RETAINING MEANS BEING FORMED FROM A DIE CUT BLANK, HAVING A BOTTOM PANEL GENERALLY CONFORMING TO THE INSIDE DIMENSIONS OF SAID CARTON, SAID BOTTOM PANEL LYING ADJACENT AND ABOVE SAID FIRST CUSHIONING MEANS, SAID FOLDED DIE CUT BLANK OF SAID SECOND CUSHIONING AND RETAINING MEANS HAVING TWO ADJACENT VERTICALLY SPACED WALL PANELS PROVIDING TWO AD- 